The Strange New Tenants
by Kiara.Kaze
Summary: Kiara story: Kiara and Kaze suddenly appear at the Silver Tea House! Why are they there and why do they seem to be hiding something from their landlord and her friends? Ugh... lame summery. Anywho, read and find out! No pairings. Rated for language and some violence
1. Chapter 1

**Yello! This is Kiara! Eh heh... sorry it's been so long since our last storeh... we got sidtracked with finding new jobs and such... ANYWHO! None of the characters belong to me! Only Kiara while Kaze is... well... Kaze's. ^^; Enjoy!**

A small tea shop sits in a town in the small island country of Japan. The shop is call 'The Silver Tea House' and is owned by a sixteen-year-old girl named Mizuki. The Tea House has quite the unique reputation. It is where people go to have their nightmares taken care of. However, the shop itself is not any different from other shops in the area (besides the fact that most of it's business comes at night). The one who actually takes care of the nightmares is one of the tenants named Hiruko. He is a Baku, a nightmare eater. Hiruko is the shop's Nightmare Inspector.

Hiruko looks to be a 17 year old young man with medium length blonde hair that he keeps back in a blue headband. His blue eyes seem dull and lifeless except when he is making fun of Hifumi Misumi (the other tenant of the Silver Tea House) or talking about an interesting nightmare. Hiruko is about 5'6" tall and wears strange clothes that include a black trench coat that stops about mid calf on his legs and hangs just under his shoulders. The clothes under his trench coat includes: a white sleeveless shirt with blue circles on the front, white arm warmers that start at his wrists and come halfway up his upper arms, a black pair of short shorts, white knee length socks and the black shoes he wears on his feet. Hiruko also carries a brown shepherds' hook cane that has a crystal halfway between the end of the cane's handle and the curve of the cane's handle along with a mysterious black suitcase.

Mizuki is about 5'3 with black shoulder length hair that is held back by a small headband and violet eyes. She has a fair complexion and a calm personality. She wears usually calm kimonos, which greatly contrasts Hiruko's strange sense of fashion. When people come to Hiruko about their nightmares, Mizuki instantly serves them coffee and usually listens in on the conversations.

Hifumi, however, is the complete opposite of both Mizuki and Hiruko. He is an 18 year old only child rich kid about 5'9" with light brown hair that is long enough to cover his ears and blue eyes. He also wears kimonos but unlike Mizuki, his are loud and eccentric much like his personality. Hifumi smokes, has a huge crush on Mizuki (which is why he is renting the room in the first place) and dislikes Hiruko because he firmly believes that Hiruko is either ruining or going to ruin his chances with Mizuki.

The night starts like any other night for the group with Hiruko getting a few customers. So when the door chime rings announcing to the three that the door has opened, they aren't surprised.

Hiruko smiles to himself and keeps cleaning his cane, effectively tuning out Hifumi's bragging about some expensive (and worthless) thing he bought earlier that day while Mizuki stands from her seat and goes to great the guests with her usual smile. She opens her mouth to speak to them but is cut off by an unusually cheerful voice.

"Ah! It's such a cute little shop, Kaze-sama! "

Hifumi immediately shuts up and Hiruko stops cleaning his cane as they both look up towards the bright voice to see two young women standing just inside the door, looking around quite calmly. All three are stunned by the apparent lack of fear or concern coming from the two. Normally, when someone comes to the shop they are frantic, angry or just plain frightened. Yet these two… seem… unabashed.

The owner of the voice seems to be a 5'2" young woman in her early twenties with energetic blue green eyes and reddish brown hair that falls to her lower back. She's wearing a white short sleeved blouse with a black tie tied loosely under it's collar and the first three buttons undone along with a black pleated mini skirt and a black pair of ankle rise Converse. Around her neck is a black clip dog collar with silver heart shaped tags. Hifumi's wide eyes are trained on the young woman's large bust.

The young woman standing beside her is much taller at 5'8" but around the same age as her companion. She has green eyes and long brown hair that has red and blonde highlights that is tied up in a ponytail. This young woman has a long slender figure dressed in black denim jeans with a black tank and black denim jacket over the tank. Her feet are encased in knee length black leather boots that have zippers and buckles totally covering them. Her expression isn't as expressive as her friend but her exasperation combined with slight interest shows in her calm eyes. In her hands is a cane very similar to the one Hiruko is holding.

The green eyed young woman sighs and places a hand to her forehead. "Kia… that's not very appropriate…"

The reddish brown haired young woman looks over at her and pouts, "But Kaze-samaaaa!"

"Don't 'but Kaze-samaaaaa' me. I'm serious," The green-eyed young woman reiterates, earning a huff from her friend.

"Fine," she pouts then turns to a shocked Mizuki. "'Ello! I'm Kawa Kiara and this is my best friend Kami Kaze. We're looking for the baku that works here."

"Hi…Hiruko?" Mizuki stutters, turning around to Hiruko who sits frozen in his chair at the far corner.

Kiara and Kaze follow Mizuki's gaze and Kiara breaks into a smile when they spot Hiruko. She prances over to him and sits down next to Hiruko, who looks at her with wide eyes. The broad smile on Kiara's face never leaves even as Hiruko starts to inch away from her peering gaze.

"Kia, stop it. You're creeping the poor thing out," Kaze sighs, walking up and swatting the back of Kiara's head, earning a sharp 'ow!' from her.

"Aaah gomen nasaiiii…" Kiara sighs.

"Uh… no problem… what is your nightmare?" Hiruko asks, still a little wigged out.

Kiara blinks at Hiruko then starts to giggle. "I'm not here about a nightmare, silly. In fact, Kaze-sama and I are-"

"Kia. Just get to it."

Kiara looks over her shoulder and pouts at Kaze. "I aaaaam!" she whines before looking back at Hiruko. "When Kaze-sama and I heard about another baku taking up residence here, we had to check it out!"

"Another baku?" Hifumi asks in confusion. "So that means that one of you is a baku?"

"Uh huh!" Kiara says cheerfully.

"Which one of you is the baku?" Mizuki asks.

"The one with the cane, Mizuki," Hiruko sighs, using his own cane to point to the one in Kaze's hand.

"No. I'm not a baku," Kaze says, while shaking her head.

All three pairs of eyes turn to Kiara, who is beaming, then turns back to Kaze, disbelief written all over their faces.

"No. way," Hifumi protests. "Shorty over there isn't half this much fun."

Hiruko turns a dark look over to Hifumi before looking at Kiara. "If you are the baku, then how come you aren't holding your cane?"

"Or depressing for that matter," Hifumi mumbles. Hiruko sighs then uses his cane to give Hifumi a sharp blow to the head, earning a corresponding yelp from him.

"Kaze-sama won't let me hold him," Kiara pouts.

"Because you _play_ with it!" Kaze grumbles. "That and you scare people when you carry around this thing." She sighs, holding the cane up.

"He's not a thing! That's Cane-chan!"

"…It's a cane…" Kaze says.

"Cane-chan."

Kaze sighs and starts to shake her head back and forth while the other three watch on in disbelief.

"Um… w-would you like some coffee, Kami-san?" Mizuki asks in uncertainty.

"No thanks I'm good."

"So you found me. Why exactly are you here?" Hiruko asks.

Kiara looks over her shoulder at Kaze who just shrugs. So Kiara turns back around to look back at Hiruko, her face curious.

"I dunno," Kiara says plainly. "You wouldn't mind if we just stuck around for a while would you?"

"I don't mind!" Hifumi shouts, his lustful gaze focused on Kiara.

Kiara's face warps warily before she scoots her chair closer to Hiruko and away from Hifumi then looks at Mizuki expectantly.

"Do you mind?" Kiara asks softly.

"Err no… I have a spare room for you two to use if you want," Mizuki whispers, watching Hiruko for his reaction.

"I don't care as long as you don't interfere with me getting my nightmares," Hiruko sighs.

"Yay!" Kiara cheers happily, tackling Hiruko who yelps in shock.

Kaze sighs then pulls Kiara off the frightened Baku and setting her back on her own chair. Kiara acts as if nothing happens and quickly starts chattering happily with Mizuki (doing her best to ignore Hifumi's ogling) while Hiruko starts watching her, his face both confused and cautious.

"Are you sure she's a baku?" Hiruko finally asks after a few minutes of listening to Kiara discuss Mizuki's kimono. He lifts a skeptic eyebrow when Kaze nods slowly with another sigh. "Really? She doesn't act like any baku I know…"

"Trust me she is," Kaze sighs, turning her head to watch Kiara smile kindly at Hifumi's black cat before pulling it into her arms in a tight hug. "Kia's always been this way."

Hifumi's eyebrows scrunch in confusion, watching as Kaze sits down across the table from him her elbows resting on the table's surface. "But… then… the baku that consumed her had to be this way too…"

"Not necessarily," Kaze says. "For as long as I've known her, Kiara's always been happy. I have never seen her upset, angry or sad. She's just a happy person even after she became a baku."

"…Odd…" Hiruko murmurs, once again looking over at Kiara and Mizuki.

"Heh, that doesn't even begin to describe Kia," Kaze chuckles.

"I heard that Kaze-sama," Kiara grumbles.

"So? What'cha gonna do about it?" Kaze retorts.

Kiara frowns at Kaze as if she's debating how to reply then grumbles under her breath again and turns to Mizuki. "Could you show me where the room is? I'm kinda tired."

"Oh… uh yes. Right this way," Mizuki says then leads Kiara up a flight of stairs.

"…That was sudden," Hifumi says, blinking in shock.

"Kia does it all the time. Nothin to worry about," Kaze sighs then looks up at Hifumi her face slightly curious. "What are your names anyway?"

"I'm Hifumi Misumi, that's Hiruko and the lovely lady that led your friend away is Mizuki-chan !" Hifumi says cheerfully.

"… Great it's another Kiara…" Kaze sighs, rubbing her temples in irritation. "Thanks for explaining…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hifumi pouts.

"That you're annoying," Hiruko states, earning an angrily look from Hifumi and a stifled laugh from Kaze.

After a few minutes, Kiara and Mizuki return and Kiara plops down in the chair beside Hiruko and grins at Kaze.

"What's with the grin, Kia?" Kaze asks, lifting a confused eyebrow.

"We're right across from Baku-san," Kiara says cheerfully.

"His name is 'Hiruko' Kia," Kaze sighs.

"Oh? Ah, sorry! Then; we're right across, Hiruko-kun," Kiara mends with a slight blush.

Hifumi's eyes widen then start to sparkle when the blush creeps onto Kiara's face. With a happy cry, Hifumi wraps his arms around Kiara's small shoulders and buries his face in the crook of her neck. Mizuki, Hiruko and Kaze's eyes widen in shock while Kiara's face warps in horror.

"Hifumi?" Hiruko says uncertainly, causing the rich kid to look over at him. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging her ," Hifumi gushes, his own cheeks tinged with a blush.

"Well stop it, you're creeping her out," Hiruko sighs, thwacking him on the head with his head and in the process accidently hitting Kiara as well, earning sharp yelps from the both of them and causing Hifumi to jerk away from Kiara. "Ah! Sorry bout that, Kiara." He apologizes.

"It's fine…" Kiara replies, holding the top of her head with her heads as she grins at him.

"This is going to be an interesting visit…" Kaze mumbles under her breath as Mizuki watches Hifumi whimper to himself in shock.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chaper 2! yay! again, only Kiara and Kaze belong to us. No one else... sadly.**

A month later, Hiruko and the others are fairly used to their new guests. So Kaze, Hiruko and Kiara sit at Hiruko's table in the back as they wait for a customer to arrive. Kiara's resting her cheek on her right palm, her eyes half liddedly watching her left hand swirl around Mizuki's empty coffee cup around on the table's smooth service. Kaze is reading a book while Hiruko is polishing his cane again.

"Y'know, Ruko-kun," Kiara slurs in boredom, quickly earning shocked looks from the others in the room. She doesn't notice the odd looks of surprise she's getting seeing as she is too engrossed on fiddling with the coffee cup. "How do you deal with the boredom every night?"

"Who?!" the others ask.

"Ruko-kun," Kiara replies calmly, pointing to a flabbergasted Hiruko.

"Ruko-kun…" Kaze tests softly before nodding her head in finality. "I like it."

Hiruko turns wide eyes to her, his face filled with horror. "What?! Why?!" He demands.

"It's cute," Kaze replies calmly as she shrugs.

"I like it too…" Mizuki whispers, earning three sharp looks. Two are from Kiara and Kaze and the other from, of course, Hiruko.

"No!" the three shout angrily, making Mizuki flinch.

"Only Kaze-sama and I are allowed to call him that, right Ruko-kun?" Kiara says, turning a hopeful look towards Hiruko.

"Right," He says with a nod that quickly turns to horror and he starts shaking his head frantically when he realizes what he just said. "W-Wait! I-I didn't mean that!" he protests desperately.

"Too late. You already agreed Ruko-kun," Kiara snickers.

Hiruko groans and shoots a dark look towards Hifumi, who has been laughing hysterically the whole time. "You shut up, baka," Hiruko growls angrily.

"No way 'Ruko-kun'" Hifumi replies mockingly. "There's no way I'm gonna let you live this one down!"

Kiara and Kaze glare menacingly at the laughing brunette. Then, after a few more insults towards Hiruko, Kiara snatches her cane from the back of Kaze's chair faster than Kaze can blink and swings it into Hifumi's gut like she is playing golf. He hacks painfully and quickly drops to his knees, fighting to gain control of his breathing.

Kaze immediately bursts into loud laughter, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist she's laughing so hard, while Mizuki and Hiruko blink in stunned horror.

"Don't mock Ruko-kun, Miso-chan," Kiara snarls angrily, her eyes strangely gold and wolf-like. "If you mock him again, I'll do more than knock the wind out of you, asshole."

"Ok Kia, give me the cane before you kill him," Kaze chuckles, grabbing the cane from Kiara's seething grasp.

Kiara snort angrily then mumbles something about going upstairs before leaving the room. Kaze nods in acknowledgement then sits back down in her seat, the cane now hanging off the back of her chair safely. She eyes Hifumi as he crawls back into his chair, still breathing a little heavy.

"Learned your lesson?" Kaze asks, smirking when he nods, flopping the upper half of his body on the table's surface.

"Has Kawa-san always been prone to… violence?" Mizuki asks hesitantly.

"When it come to certain things, yes, otherwise she's fairly carefree," Kaze replies with a sigh.

"Certain things?" Mizuki repeats questioningly.

Kaze nods, she's leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed comfortably across her stomach and her eyes are closed. Mizuki watches Kaze silently waiting for her to answer her question.

"What kind of things?" Mizuki asks when Kaze doesn't answer.

"Well instances like you saw before," Kaze sighs in irritation. "Kia doesn't take to people mocking someone she cares about too kindly. In fact the reaction you saw was unusually mild. She's usually harsher than that."

"_That_ was _mild_!?" Hifumi asks skeptically. "She beat me with her cane!"

"Yes, mild, Miso-chan," Kaze replies sharply. "You do realize that she that she could have done worse? She most likely would have had I not stopped her."

"G-got it…" Hifumi stutters fearfully.

Kaze nods sternly then stands up and excuses herself for the night. Hiruko sighs then goes back to cleaning his cane while Mizuki stands in stunned silence. She's never seen anyone react that way to Hifumi. Sure, Hifumi is annoying but not even Hiruko was so violent when he got angry. Mizuki has learned to ignore Hifumi since she knows he's fairly harmless but this new comer, Kiara, obviously won't let even the littlest thing slide past her. Mizuki sighs then starts to clean the counter in order to help get her mind off of her two odd tenants, silently noting to herself to watch what she says and does around them, especially Kiara.

Later that night, Kiara stumbles back down the stairs. Her disheveled appearance causes Hifumi and Mizuki to eye her in worry (and wariness as they remember the incident from earlier). Kiara's hair is sticking every which way, her clothes are wrinkled and there seem to be stains on them as she unsteadily makes her way to the seat next to Hiruko before sitting in it heavily with a huff. After a few seconds, Kiara leans forward and rests her forehead on the table with a long sigh this time earning a weird look from Hiruko as well.

"Kiara-san? Are you ok?" Mizuki finally asks after five minutes pass and Kiara hasn't moved an inch.

The grunt that answers earns furrowed eyebrows and causes Mizuki and Hifumi to trade looks. They head over to the table Kiara is sitting at and Mizuki places a hand on her shoulder. Kiara stiffens under Mizuki's kind touch then moves her shoulder in a way to remove it from her body. The younger woman's eyes widen in shock and she trades shocked looks with the other two before looking back down at Kiara.

"Kiara-san? Is everything ok?" Mizuki asks again.

Another grunt answers Mizuki's question, earning a frustrated sigh from her.

"We won't be able to help unless-"

"Who says you'd even be able to help?" Kiara interrupts angrily, her forehead still resting on the table.

"W-Well… Um…"

"Hey! What's your problem!?" Hifumi shouts angrily, roughly pulling Kiara into a sitting position by a hand on her shoulder. "We're only worried about you!"

Kiara slaps Hifumi's hand away and openly glares at the younger man, her eyes changing once more as her anger grows. "Don't get snippy with me, Miso-chan! You have no idea what I can do to you if you piss me off!"

"What happened?! You were so nice when you first showed up here and now you're all grouchy!" Hifumi continues, his voice not as confident as it was before.

"Shit happens, Miso-chan!" Kiara snaps back.

"Please… don't fight…" Mizuki says stepping between the two warring parties. She waits patiently for both Kiara and Hifumi to back off and sit back down before continuing, "Kiara-san, maybe it'll help you if you talk about it…"

Kiara huffs then nods. "Maybe."

"…_Well_?" Hifumi asks when Kiara doesn't continue earning three glares.

"Kiara, don't mind him," Hiruko sighs. Hifumi glares at him but Hiruko ignores it and he shrugs as he continues, "That's what I do."

"Easier said than done," Kiara literally snarls, quickly causing a sharp shiver to go down Mizuki's and Hifumi's backs.

"A-Anyway… what's bothering you?" Mizuki asks gently in hopes of distracting Kiara before she causes Hifumi even more physical damage than earlier that night.

Her plan seems to work because Kiara's expression immediately becomes depressed and she looks down at her lap. "It's nothing really I guess…"

"It doesn't seem like nothing," Mizuki says.

"…No… I guess not…" Kiara mumbles, her mind obviously elsewhere.

"So… what's bothering you?" Hifumi sighs, getting frustrated with the lack of answers that are coming out of Kiara's mouth.

Hiruko also sighs then proceeds to whack Hifumi on the head with his cane before saying, "She'll tell us when she's ready, be patient."

"It's a reoccurring dream…" Kiara finally mumbles. Her eyes are glazed over and unfocused as she stares into space.

"Dream? I thought Baku couldn't dream," Mizuki says, glancing at Hiruko who looks just as confused as herself and Hifumi.

"We don't…" Hiruko says, turning his attention towards Kiara. "Want me to take a look?"

Kiara shakes her head, her expression grim. "No. I know what it means… well… more specifically, it's about my past."

"Your past?" Hiruko asks. Kiara glances at him out of the corner of her eye and nods before her eyes trail to the front again. "What about your past?"

Kiara doesn't reply right away, instead, she keeps her gaze straight in front of her. The dream that she has been having for two years now is replaying itself over and over in her mind. At first it was pleasant, but now, it brings nothing but a strong sense of longing and heartache. Tears flood Kiara's eyes and silently roll down her face as she turns to the now shocked Hiruko, her bottom lip trembling as she replies to his question.

"Home… I dream about home," Kiara whispers, her voice breaking slightly with her sobs.

"Do you know why?" Hiruko asks softly.

Kiara nods, not even bothering to stop the tears that are now streaming down her face. "Yes… I miss it… I miss them… so much…"

"Then why don't you go home?" Hifumi asks, one eyebrow lifted in confusion.

A flash of anger flickers in Kiara's eyes and over her face as she snaps her head towards Hifumi and glares at him. "Because I can't!"

"Baka! Let me handle this or do you want to wind up breathless and on the ground again!?" Hiruko shouts, finally loosing patience with him.

"O-Ok…" Hifumi stutters, his face pale in fear.

Hiruko nods and turns back to Kiara with a sigh. He touches her shoulder to regain her attention then asks, "Why can't you go home, Kiara?"

"Because-"

"Kia…?" a sleepy voice says, cutting Kiara off and making the group spin around to see a very groggy Kaze standing on the stairs. "What'cha doin' down here?"

"Kaze-sama!" Kiara says, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand then smiling at Kaze. "Sorry, I couldn't sleep."

"Again? M'by 'Ruko can help…" Kaze mumbles, walking over and sitting down in a chair. "Have you thought about askin' him?"

"Well, no, I haven't but, I'll be ok," Kiara lies, smiling up at Kaze. "Thank you."

"Alright…" Kaze yawns, rubbing the back of her head. "If you say so. Jus' sayin that he could be a big help."

"I know. Thanks, Kaze-sama. How bout you go back to bed? I'll be up in a bit," Kiara replies, still grinning in order to put Kaze at ease.

Kaze sighs then gets to her feet. "Kay…" she mumbles, walking back to the stairs before disappearing back upstairs.

"Kiara?"

Kiara turns towards Hiruko and gives him a sad smile before standing to her feet. Hiruko also gets to his feet and grabs a hold of her wrist as she tries to walk away.

"Wait a second, you need to explain what that was about," Hiruko says firmly.

"I'll explain later, Ruko-kun…" Kiara whispers, slipping her wrist out of his grip and walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! Me no owny Hiruko and others. just Kia and Kaze**

Two weeks pass by and Kiara still has not explained why she didn't tell Kaze the truth that night or why she can't go home. Hifumi is irritated by the lack of answers but doesn't say anything out of fear. Mizuki is concerned for her friend but she won't say anything until Hiruko does. But that, of course, doesn't look like it is going to happen any time soon. Hiruko doesn't mention that night but Mizuki can see the occasional forlorn look he sends Kiara's direction, making her wonder what is really going on in his head.

It's about midmorning when Kiara and Kaze walk down the stairs and sit at one of the many tables in the little café. Mizuki walks over and places two cups of tea and a plate of food in front of the pair then sits down next to them, Hifumi joining soon after.

"Did you two sleep well?" Mizuki asks gently, sipping at her own cup of coffee.

"Kinda. The same weird dream keeps popping up and Kia won't take a look at it for me," Kaze sighs, giving her friend a weird look.

"Oh? What's it about?" Mizuki asks.

"I keep seeing people and I feel like I should know them but I don't…" Kaze sighs. "I mean… they're talking to me and their faces seem so happy… well except for one raven haired guy. He's always got a slight pout on his face."

A soft snort coming from across the table causes the other three to turn confused looks at Kiara who has covered her mouth with one hand to hide what looks like a soft snicker. However, Mizuki soon spots the tears in her eyes and realizes the real reason for the snort.

"Has Kiara-chan looked at it before?" Hifumi asks, not seeing Kiara's tears.

"Yeah. Once. But she refuses to look at it again," Kaze says, her face confused.

"Why not?" Hifumi asks.

"She says that it won't do any good. The dreams will just keep coming back," Kaze replies.

"That's odd…" Hifumi replies.

"I know. She just… gets depressed every single time I mention it. In fact, it wasn't long that I first mentioned the dream to her that she became a Baku," Kaze says, eyeing Kiara warily. "She still hasn't told me why she did that."

"How 'bout Hiruko looks at the dream?" Mizuki pipes up, quickly earning the shocked attention of Hifumi and Kaze while Kiara freezes with her cup raised to her mouth. "Y-You know for another set of eyes? It could give you another solution than just letting her keep seeing the dreams over and over again…"

"Hmm… It might work…" Kaze murmurs as she, Mizuki and Hifumi turn wary looks towards Kiara, watching as she takes a calm sip from her cup before setting it down with a sigh. "Kia?"

"…Its your head. If you want him to take a look go ahead, I won't stop you. However, I firmly believe it won't do anything," Kiara replies softly. She stands up and excuses herself from the table then walks outside, muttering something about getting a few kimonos for herself and Kaze.

"See what I mean!?" Kaze huffs in frustration. "I mention it and she gets all depressed! I don't get what's so wrong with my dream!"

"Yes, I see what you mean…" Mizuki whispers softly, concern written all over her face.

"Perhaps has to do with something else…" Hifumi mutters under his breath.

"Yeah? Like what?!" Kaze snaps.

"I don't know! She's freaky! Even for a Baku! I mean Mizuki-chan and I hafta drag Hiruko outside during daylight and she waltzes out on her own! Not once have we seen her eat a dream, she gives them all to Hiruko-"

"Which thrills him to no end…" Kaze mutters, earning a sharp look from Hifumi before he continues on his rant.

"She isn't depressed, in fact she's almost as cheerful as I am! I'm beginning to wonder if she even _is_ a Baku!"

"Oh trust me, she is," Kaze chuckles darkly. "Kia can get pretty dark some times."

"Alright, then prove it!" Hifumi retorts.

"Well, I can't just pull her out of a hat and say 'Miso-chan doesn't believe you're a Baku! How bout you prove it to him!'" Kaze says in mock happiness before her face grows dark with anger.

"Guys, please, don't fight," Mizuki says gently. "It won't get you any where."

"Alright, Mizuki-chan!" Hifumi coos, earning a shiver from Kaze as she scoots her chair away from him.

"Fine. But only because you've been a good hostess to Kia and I," Kaze grumbles.

"Do you want me to get Hiruko, Kaze-san?" Mizuki asks.

"No, let the kid get his sleep. I'll talk to him tonight if I wake up after the dream again," Kaze sighs.

"Very well," Mizuki replies kindly as she starts gathering their plates from the table then walks away with them.

Late that night, Kiara, Mizuki, Hifumi and Hiruko sit at the table waiting for customers while Kaze is upstairs sleeping. Kiara, who is dressed in one of her new kimonos, stares absently at the table, her mind filled with the things Kaze had said earlier that day. Kiara sighs at the memory then pulls out an envelope from her kimono and opens it. She grabs a hold of the contents of the envelope but hesitates in pulling it out. The other three watch on curiously (Hifumi showing it very obviously on his face while Mizuki and Hiruko watch in calm silence) as Kiara takes in a deep breath and pulls out what looks to be quite a few letters.

"Heh… they all wrote this time…" Kiara whispers to herself as she flips through the different letters that have different penmanship on them and finally stopping on one that has very neat handwriting. "Wow…Even Sai sent one…" she murmurs opening the letter and starting to read, not even noticing that a few other pieces of paper have fallen out.

Hifumi snatches up the folded pieces of paper and is shocked to see drawings of different people. "Whoa… who are these people? Why are they dressed so funny?" Hifumi asks, showing Kiara the pics.

"Ah!" Kiara gasps, quickly snatching the papers from Hifumi and flipping through them. "Where'd you get these?!" she demands as she continues looking through them, sometimes giggling at a picture but always looking on with a forlorn look and tears in her eyes.

"They… They fell out when you opened the letter… Why what's the big deal?" Hifumi asks.

"Big deal!? These are my friends!" Kiara replies, waving the letters and the pictures at Hifumi before splaying them across the table so that they could see them. "These are from people that I cherish more than anything in this world!"

"They're your friends?" Mizuki asks in wonder, as she pics up a photo of a group of three. Two of the three are boys, one with blonde spiky hair and what looks like three scars in the shape of whiskers on each cheek and brilliant blue eyes. The other young man has raven colored hair that comes to his chin and is spiked up slightly in the back and black eyes and a thin mouth that is lifted in a slight smirk, not quite the wide smile as his two companions. The final is a girl with rose-colored hair and emerald green eyes.

"Yes. The picture your holding has a very important friend of mine," Kiara replies, her anger at Hifumi's comment quickly being replaced with nostalgia.

"Oh? Which one?" Mizuki asks, lowering it so that they all can see who Kiara pointed to, which is the raven haired one. "Him?"

"Yes. Uchiha Sasuke-kun. He's been our friend for a very long time," Kiara replies sadly. "The blond is named Uzumaki Naruto and the bitch is Haruno Sakura."

"That wasn't very nice… I thought you said she was your friend…" Hifumi says with a slight pout.

"Don't go swooning over her, Miso-chan, trust me, Sakura's more of a bitch than you can imagine. And I wouldn't necessarily call her a friend. She kinda forced herself on me when we were little."

"Ok… but what about all these other people… there's so many of them…" Hifumi asks, motioning to the other pictures.

Kiara sighs and shakes her head. "I'm not going to tell who is every one ok? As you said, there's so many of them, too many really, to explain who's who. Let me just say that the pouty young man Kaze-sama mention earlier was Sasuke-kun."

"Oh… I see no wonder you were about to cry…" Mizuki says in realization, quickly receiving shocked looks from Hifumi and Hiruko and an angry glare from Kiara.

"You could have kept that to yourself," Kiara snarled through clenched teeth.

"S-sorry!" Mizuki stutters.

"Kiara, what does this have to do with anything?" Hiruko finally speaks up.

"…Kaze's dreams aren't dreams," Kiara states.

"What…?"

"They're memories."

"Memories?!"

"Yes. Of our birthplace… Our friends… our home…"

"Ok… that explains a little bit…" Hiruko sighs. "But there's something else that you're hiding."

"…Heh… More than you know," Kiara chuckles half-heartedly.

"Then please explain," Hifumi says, stiffening when Kiara gives him a sharp look.

"We were born and raised in a village called 'Konoha'. Long story short, two years ago Kaze went on a mission with two of our friends, Naruto and Sai. Naruto and Sai brought her back unconscious, which was weird cause Kaze's one of the strongest people I know. However when she woke up…" Kiara cuts herself off and takes in a deep breath in order to prevent the tears in her eyes from falling. "She remembered nothing. Only me and that we were best friends. In fact, she created this whole new story of what we were doing with our lives… That was the first time…"

"First time?" Mizuki asks, while Hifumi has been stunned to silence and Hiruko listens on in interest.

"Yes. It happened again right before we came here… Only this time, I have an idea of what's causing this…" Kiara says softly.

"What do you mean?"

"When Naru and Sai first brought Kaze back, they described a woman that 'was hostile and frightening, and she attacked' and then this time, the person we were helping described another woman that floated and he said that she didn't touch Kaze and she just collapsed. I have a feeling that this woman is the reason Kaze-sama keeps loosing her memories."

"Freaky…" Hifumi mutters as he shivers.

"You have no idea."

"What does that have to do with you being a Baku though?" Hiruko asks.

"…She's the reason I became a Baku in the first place, Ruko-kun."

"Huh?"

"Well…Just before she lost her memories for the first time, we lost someone very important to us, so I was already a little down. Then she lost her memories not once but twice and it started to get to me. I finally became depressed enough that a Baku showed up one night and asked me to take its place. However, what it didn't know was that I have another secret that kept him from taking over completely which gives me weird quirks as a Baku."

"…And what is that?"

"…Sorry, can't tell you… But that's how I came to be a Baku… Understand?" Kiara says, turning a look towards Hifumi.

"E-Err y-yes…" Hifumi stutters.

"Then how long are you going to stay with us?" Mizuki asks.

"…I'm not sure…" Kiara replies with a sigh. "A while I guess. But if that woman shows up, I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind…"

"But how do you know you're going to be able to do anything?" Hifumi asks, jumping when Kiara gives him another glare. "Don't be angry! I'm just curious! I-I mean you seem pretty confident in yourself…"

"…I may not look it, Miso-chan, but I've had training that you wouldn't believe. Kaze-sama and I both could take down this woman but…" Kiara says her voice becoming sad. "Seeing as Kaze-sama doesn't remember…"

"It'll work out," Mizuki says gently.

"Come again?" Kiara asks, giving Mizuki an unsure look.

"It'll work out."

"Hmph. In the world I've lived in for the passed 21 years, nothing has 'worked out'. It gets from bad to worse before it gets better," Kiara replies stiffly. "I've learned that the hard way. But…Thanks… For trying."

"Y-Your welcome?" Mizuki stutters in confusion before turning to Hifumi. "Do you want something, Hifumi?"

"Um no I'm ok for now, thanks."

"Alright, if you need anything please say something," Mizuki says with a smile.

"Y'know, that's the first time I've seen you refuse some of your beloved's homemade coffee," Kiara says with a smirk. Hifumi and Mizuki blush causing Kiara to laugh softly and Hiruko to chuckle slightly.

"W-What? B-Beloved?" Hifumi stutters, turning to look at Mizuki who looks away.

"It's true. When it comes to her, you always say yes. It's annoying to be honest," Hiruko says, now cleaning his cane.

"What?!"

"You think everything he does is annoying," Kiara says, laughing when Hiruko smiles then shrugs but doesn't deny Kiara's statement.

"Hey!" Hifumi protests angrily then turns to Mizuki, his face covered in a smile. "You don't think I'm annoying, right Mizuki-chan?"

Mizuki doesn't reply, instead she stands up and goes to the kitchen to fix some more coffee. Hifumi's face becomes stunned while both Hiruko and Kiara start laughing. He turns and glares at the pair and opens his mouth to say something but a loud scream coming from upstairs cuts him off and makes him jump. Kiara is instantly on her feet and upstairs before Hifumi and Hiruko can even blink before they follow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Poor Kaze and Kiara... i'm so mean to our characters *sob* oh well! makes for a good storeh! I don't own Nightmare Inspector's characters, though i want Hiruko.**

Once upstairs Kiara and the others see Kaze sitting straight up in bed, her eyes wide like saucers, her face pale and drenched in sweat.

"Kaze-sama!" Kiara cries worriedly, rushing to Kaze's side and sitting on her feet beside her, her eyes and face showing the same panicked expression in her tone. "What's wrong?!"

"A-A woman… sh…she attacked us… she… killed you… then killed them…" Kaze whispers, her voice shaking with fear.

"Killed who?" Kiara asks gently, placing her hands on Kaze's shoulders in a silent form of comfort.

"I-I don't know! Them! The people I've been seeing in my dreams! The dreams that you refuse to do anything about!" Kaze shouts, growing frustrated.

"Alright, calm down… Ruko-kun, will you take care of it for me?" Kiara says, turning pleading eyes towards the other Baku.

Hiruko sighs then lifts his cane. "Very well. Sleep now, leave this world behind…" he says softly. Within seconds, Kaze's eyes close and she slumps forward as Hiruko disappears.

Mizuki and Hifumi stand just inside the doorway as Kiara stares at Kaze, her face worried and brooding. This has never happened before. Not once has the dream turned… violent. The fact that it's happened now, scares Kiara. It really scares her. What could this mean? Could it mean that whatever the woman did to Kaze is wearing off? Could it mean that it's getting worse? She just doesn't know. She'd rather the dreams be pleasant memories than frightening ones. But the fact remains that Kaze doesn't even know that they are memories, which frightens and frustrates Kiara more than anything else. What if next time Kaze doesn't remember her? What if Kaze doesn't remember even her own name?! That thought causes her heart to skip a bit but in order to hide it, Kiara sighs in irritation and pulls her knees to her chest and continues to watch Kaze in worry.

She mustn't dwell on her fear and anxiety. If she does, Kaze will notice something is up and become worried herself. That won't be good for either of them so Kiara has to stay strong. She's the only one that can keep both herself and Kaze together. She has to be there to pick up the pieces if Kaze does break down at some point. Her fears aren't as important as finding out a solution to this dilemma, and Kaze's well being.

But still… the thought of Kaze forgetting _everything_ including her own name really frightens Kiara. Kaze means the world to her and if that were gone… she wouldn't know what to do. Seeing as she's a Baku now, she can't kill herself like she'd like to so she'd be left, alone, which to someone with her nature is the worst thing that could happen.

"Kiara-san?" Mizuki asks, placing a hand on Kiara's shoulder, making her jump and turn to her. "Are you ok? You're crying…"

"Huh?" Kiara whispers in confusion, putting a hand to her cheek and sure enough, there are streams of tears rolling down her face. "Ah! Sorry!" Kiara says, quickly rubbing her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "I was just thinking about something…"

"About what? You can tell us," Mizuki says gently, sitting down beside the still crying Baku.

"No… it's stupid…" Kiara mumbles, burying her face in her knees then covering her head with her arms.

"Hey, if it's important enough for you to cry about it, then it's not stupid," Hifumi says firmly, making Kiara look up at him then smile, causing Hifumi to blush.

"Y'know… you really sounded a lot like Sasuke-kun right then…" Kiara whispers reflectively.

"His right though," Mizuki says, smiling at Kiara when she turns to her. "Come on, what's bothering you?"

"I'm afraid…" Kiara whispers, finally giving into they're promptings. She rests her forehead on her arms, squeezes her eyes shut and grimaces in distress before she continues. "I'm afraid of what this could mean… could it get worse? Could Kaze-sama forget about me? Forget about herself? Is there even a way for things to return to the way they were?! What if there isn't and she does forget about me?! What will happen then!? What can I do to prevent that from happening? I don't want her to forget about me! I love her more than anything else in this world! If she were to forget-"

Kiara cuts her self off and starts to sob openly. Mizuki's eyebrows furrow in concern and pulls Kiara into her arms in a comforting hug as she continues to cry. After a few seconds, Kiara calms down enough to where she's hiccupping more than crying.

"If she were to forget… I wouldn't have anything to live for anymore…" Kiara continues with the occasional hitch in her voice.

"There's plenty of things you could live for!" Hifumi shouts angrily, shocking both Kiara and Mizuki. He stomps up to the pair and grabs a hold of the front of Kiara's kimono and pulls her face to face with him, his angry eyes boring into her own. "What about your friends back home huh?! How do you think they'd feel if they found out that you killed yourself because Kaze doesn't remember you?! What about us?! Mizuki-chan and I care about you! We wouldn't want you to disappear either! What about Kaze?! If she somehow did remember and then found out that you died, she'd be hurt too! Do you really want to hurt her like that?!" Hifumi rants angrily.

Kiara stares at him, stunned that Hifumi got that angry with her. She doesn't reply, she just stares wide eyed at him.

"Well!?" Hifumi asks when she doesn't reply. "Do you!?"

"N…No…" Kiara finally whimpers. "But what could I do?"

"Never give up!" Hifumi shouts. "If you give up, then who'll be there for her when she needs you?! No one! So never give up and remember that there are others there for you if you feel alone…"

"K-Kay…" Kiara says.

"Hifumi… you've mad your point, put her down…" Mizuki says gently.

Hifumi snorts but puts Kiara back on the floor. "Stop this… it isn't like you…" he whispers before walking back downstairs.

"Kiara-san, you ok?" Mizuki asks gently.

"Yeah… thanks…" Kiara whispers with a nod.

"He's right though…"

"Hm?"

"Hifumi. He's right. We're here for you if things turn for the worst," Mizuki explains with a smile. "And I'm sure your friends back home would say the same."

Kiara nods then whispers, "Thank you…"

"Mm. Do you want to come downstairs and wait?" Mizuki asks.

"No… I'll wait up here, thanks…" Kiara whispers, her gaze now focused back on Kaze's sleeping form.

"Alright," Mizuki replies, standing up and going downstairs, leaving Kiara alone with Kaze.

An hour passes before Hiruko returns and Kaze wakes up. Kiara doesn't say anything. She merely goes to Kaze's side and hugs her tight, fresh tears rolling down her face, which confuses both Hiruko and Kaze.

"Kia? What's up with you?" Kaze asks, her arms wrapping unconsciously around her friend's back. Kiara shakes her head then buries her face in Kaze's neck. "Kia?"

"I'm sorry… just… just give me a minute…" Kiara whispers into Kaze's neck.

"Alright…" Kaze replies just as softly.

Hiruko stands and watches silently as Kiara weeps into Kaze's neck. After a few seconds Kiara pulls away, sniffling as she wipes her eyes with the back of your hand.

"How'd it go?" Kiara asks, giving Kaze a small smile.

"I'm not sure… Ask Ruko…" Kaze murmurs, still stunned at Kiara actions.

Kiara looks over her shoulder at Hiruko who jerks slightly before sighing. "It was an interesting dream… not sure how it'll taste."

"It went well then?" Kiara asks, her eyebrows furrowing with worry.

"Yeah… I don't think it'll return any time soon… at least to that degree," Hiruko sighs.

"Oh good… thank you…" Kiara says, giving him a grateful smile.

Hiruko nods in acknowledgement then leaves them alone in the room. As soon as Hiruko's out of ear shot, Kaze turns to Kiara her face firm.

"Ok, what was that about!?" she demands.

"What was what about?" Kiara asks in confusion.

"You crying like that! I haven't seen you do that for years so what brought that up all of the sudden!?"

Kiara's face saddens and she looks down at her lap. "It's nothing… I just let my worry get the better of me…"

"Worry?" Kaze asks, to which Kiara nods. "About what?"

"…Loosing you…" Kiara says, her voice barely audible.

"Loosing m-why would you loose me?" Kaze asks incredulously.

Kiara shrugs. "I dunno…"

Kaze sighs and shakes her head. "Silly, you're not going to loose me anytime soon."

"I hope so…"

"Oh stop it!" Kaze snaps, making Kiara jump then look up at her in frightened shock. "Stop being so depressed! That's my job not yours! Go back to your cheerful self! Sheesh…"

Kiara giggles slightly at Kaze's way of cheering her up then nods. "I understand Kaze-sama. Thank you."

Kaze grunts then lies down in her bed. "If your gonna stay, lie down cause I'm tired and going back to sleep."

Kiara smiles and nods then lies down and soon follows Kaze in sleep. The next afternoon, Mizuki walks upstairs to Kaze's room, concerned about her tenants since they haven't yet come downstairs. She nods on the door softly and when she doesn't hear a reply, walks inside. Inside the room Kiara and Kaze both lie on their sides on either side of the room, their sides rising and falling with calm sleeping breathes. Mizuki smiles softly to her self, and not wanting to disturb their sleep, leaves the room and closes the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Over halfway through! Enjoy Chapter 5! Thanks for reading! Reviews really appreciated! Hiruko, Mizuki and everyone else but Kiara and Kaze are not mine. **

It isn't until Hiruko is up later that night, that the pair of girls make their way downstairs and sit beside the Baku. As soon as they sit down, Mizuki places some food and a cup of tea in front of Kaze, before joining them at the table.

"You guys were out for a while…" Hiruko says mostly to himself as he cleans his can.

"Yeah… we haven't been sleeping well for a while," Kiara sighs, running a hand through her long hair.

"Did you sleep well this time around?" Mizuki asks, sipping at her coffee.

"Yes. Thanks," Kaze replies, pushing her empty plate away from her. Mizuki nods then stands up and takes Kaze's empty dishes into the kitchen.

"Did the dream come back, Kaze-san?" Hifumi asks, warily watch Kiara as she takes Hiruko's cane and playfully teases him with it.

"Kiara, give the poor thing back his cane!" Kaze fusses, snatching the cane from her best friend and handing it back to the frantic Baku. "And no, it didn't."

"Good," Hifumi says, smiling at Kaze and trying not to laugh at Kiara's pouting face.

Kiara looks over at Kiara and pouts at her before her face becomes sly. Hiruko and Hifumi watches her warily then in shock as Kiara bumps Kaze, taking her off guard and thus tossing her off of her chair with a loud cry. Kiara and Hifumi instantly start laughing at her while Mizuki runs in, her face covered in worry that only turns to shock when she sees Kaze grumbling to herself as she crawls back into her chair. Hiruko just stares wide eyed at Kiara and Kaze, surprised to see her so… lively after last night.

"That wasn't funny…" Kaze grumbles.

"Yes it was!" Kiara gasps between her laughter.

"No. It wasn't."

"Yes it was!"

"No."

"Yes-" Kiara starts before glancing over at Kaze. Kaze is glares at her menacingly, promptly causing Kiara to pale and say, "Yes Ma'am."

"Good girl," Kaze says triumphantly.

"Wow… you got her leashed don't you…" Hifumi says in amazement. In a flash, Kiara's up on her feet and her fist is buried in his gut, making him hack painfully and double over, before Kiara sits back down again. "Never mind…" he croaks.

"And here I thought you learned your lesson…" Kaze tsks, as she shakes her head back and forth sadly.

"It always takes him a while to learn something," Hiruko says, quickly hiding his cane when Kiara looks over at him, earning a pout from her. "Go play with your own cane!"

"But I don't know where he is! Kaze-sama hid him!" Kiara protests.

"With good reason!" Kaze replies. "Last time you had it, you almost killed Miso-chan!"

"But that was with good reason!" Kiara protests.

Kaze sighs and shakes her head again, this time a small smile on her face. "Kia, I can't have you threatening people with your cane…"

"Why not?!"

"Cause… it… threatens people! T-The point is; you can't hurt the people that are giving us a place to live!" Kaze sputters. Kiara snorts then starts to laugh but quickly stops when Kaze whacks her on the head. "Stop laughing at me!"

"S-Sorry…"

"You two really have an interesting relationship…" Mizuki says.

"It's always been this way," Kaze sighs, pushing Kiara by her shoulder earning weird grunts from her protest, before finally launching her off her chair.

"Kyaa!" Kiara squeals, her legs flying into the air as she lands on her back on the floor. Her legs rest on the seat of her chair as she just lies on her back, staring up at the ceiling with a pout. Her pout gets even worse when Kaze and Hifumi start laughing at her. "Ruko-kuuuuun! They're laughin' at meeeee!" Kiara whines pitifully, earning a snort of laughter from the other Baku. "Ah! And now you are too! Meanie!"

"Ooooh wow… " Kaze sighs, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Kia, you never cease to amuse me."

"Glad I can help," Kiara growls sarcastically even though she's smiling, secretly happy at the fact that Kaze's pretty much back to her normal self.

"Are you guys always like this?" Mizuki asks.

"Yep," Kiara replies, popping the 'p'.

"Then how come we haven't seen it?"

"…Well… we… were… upset…" Kiara replies sadly.

"Oh…Oh! I'm sorry!" Mizuki says apologetically, now helping Kiara back into her chair.

"It's fine."

"She gets even worse on caffeine," Kaze sighs, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"Seriously!?" Hifumi shouts in shock.

"Yes. She's literally high on sugar," Kaze replies. "It's amusing but scary at the same time."

"Not sure I want to see it then…" Hiruko sighs.

"I dunno. It sounds interesting," Hifumi replies.

"But _you_ won't be the one that would be victimized if she does," Hiruko retorts, still hiding his cane protectively.

"You're probably gonna see it anyway," Kaze says calmly, giving Kiara a look when she sees her eyeing Hiruko's cane again. Kiara stiffens when she feels Kaze's harsh gaze then slumps and gives Kaze a sheepish grin before slouching in defeat, a slight pout on her face.

"Eh? Why?"

"Kia always had a knack for finding a way to get her hands on sugar one way or another."

"Oh wonderful…" Hiruko grumbles sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Ruko, I'll keep Kia in check," Kaze says with a smile.

"Hmph!" Kiara huffs, her arms are crossed and her mouth is down turned in a frown. "I'm not that bad…"

"Ooooh yes you are…" Kaze replies. "You've scarred more than one person when you've gotten hyper.

"But Naru-san was always worse than-" Kiara starts then cuts herself off, her face becoming pained. "…Never mind…"

"Who?" Kaze asks in confusion.

"A-… A friend of mine. Don't worry 'bout it," Kiara replies, planting a fake smile on her face.

"If you say so…" Kaze sighs then turns to Mizuki. "Can I have a soda?"

"Ah! Sure!" Mizuki gasps, leaving for a few seconds before returning with a glass bottle, which she places in front of Kaze. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Kaze says before taking a swig of the brown liquid.

"Awwww…. I want some…" Kiara pouts pathetically.

"Oh no you don't," Kaze says, putting her body between her soda and Kiara protectively which only causes Kiara's pout to get bigger. "We just had this discussion on how hyper you get! I'm not about to show them what we were talking about! Besides poor Ruko is still scared you're gonna torture him!"

"Oh but I won't torture him _this_ time!" Kiara protest then pleads, "Pleeeeeaaaase Kaze-sama?! Just one sip?!"

"_This_ time!?" Hiruko says in shock. "So the next time you would?!"

"….No…" Kiara replies, glancing away sheepishly.

"Uh huh, sure you won't… I don't believe that…" Kaze retorts, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"but he's so cute when I pick on him!" Kiara protests. "C'mon I know you think so too!"

Kaze face suddenly flushes pink and becomes slightly guilty. Kiara chuckles evilly then grins at Kaze.

"See?! I was right!" Kiara says, pointing an accusing finger at Kaze.

"Sh-Shut up!" Kaze snaps in embarrassment.

"Hahaha! I kneeeeeew it!"

"K-Kia shut up!"

"Nope! Not gonna happen!"

"I'll give you some sodie if you shut up!" Kaze suddenly blurts.

"Really?!" Kiara asks, leaning across the table to get into Kaze's face, her eyes shining with hopefulness.

"E-Errr… yes?" Kaze says, her voice becoming unsure.

"Yay! Ok I'll shut up!" Kiara announces, sitting back in her chair with a happy grin on her face and one hand open towards Kaze.

Kaze groans then begrudgingly places the bottle in Kiara hand, who starts to take a drink only for Hiruko to grab a hold of her wrist, stopping Kiara.

"Ruko-kun? What'cha doin?" Kiara asks in confusion.

"Aren't you going to vomit blood if you drink that?" Hiruko asks.

"…No… Do you?" Kiara asks, one of her eyebrows cocked in confusion.

"Yes! All Baku do! We can't eat anything besides dreams!"

"…But… I eat everything _but_ dreams," Kiara says.

"And veggies," Kaze mutters under her breath.

"Not true!" Kiara protests but then mumbles, "I eat asparagus…"

"Ha! Only when I force you to!" Kaze replies haughtily.

"Nuh uh! I eat it on my own too!"

"Hahaha! No you don't! You've always rejected veggies!"

"Nooo! I eat salads-"

"With a _ton_ of dressing," Kaze interrupts smugly.

"I eat zucchini-"

"Again, with a _ton_ of dressing."

Kiara glares at Kaze but presses onwards, "I like squash-"

"Baked with a lot of spaghetti sauce."

"Gaaah! The point is, I like food but I don't eat dreams!" Kiara shouts in defeat, earning some chuckling from Kaze while the other three just stare.

"What…?" Hiruko says in shock.

"Well… think about it," Mizuki says softly, quickly gaining four pairs of eyes on her. "Since she's shown up, not once has she eaten a customer's dream even though she joins you in investigating them. She's always given them to you."

"…Yes… that's true…" Hiruko sighs.

"I've eaten in front of you two before," Kiara sighs, pointing to both Mizuki and Hifumi, the later of the two staring at Kiara wide eyed.

"What?! No you haven't!" Hifumi protests.

"Um yes she has," Kaze jumps in.

"Huh? When?!" Hifumi asks in shock.

"Well, every morning we come down, Mizuki-chan has given us both breakfast," Kaze explains. "And every single time, she takes away two sets of empty dishes."

"You could have eaten both portions, Kaze-sama," Kiara snickers, ducking when Kaze tosses her shoe at Kiara's head.

"That's right…" Mizuki says in realization. Kiara quickly bursts into loud laughter while Kaze glares at the younger girl.

"Which is right!?" Kaze growls angrily.

"E-Err that I've brought you guys breakfast and taken away empty dishes each time…" Mizuki explains.

"See?" Kiara says, turning to Hiruko who is still looking at her with suspicion.

"Whatever, Kia, go ahead and drink it," Kaze sighs. "I want it back though!"

"Hai, hai," Kiara mumbles, taking a quick swig of the soda before handing it back.

As soon as the soda bottle touched Kiara's lips, Hiruko ducked under the table in preparation of blood avoidance. However, after a few seconds he doesn't hear any gagging so he peeks above the table and is shocked to see, not a Kiara in pain and gagging like he usually does but instead a face of total elation. In fact, he rubs his eyes to make sure the hearts he thinks he sees above Kiara's head aren't real, which (to his relief) do disappear after him rubbing his eyes a second time.

"Ruko…? You ok?" Kaze asks, watching the flurry of emotion string over the Baku's face.

"Huh? Oh… yeah… just… taken aback…" Hiruko says, getting back into his chair but still watching Kiara cautiously. "Huh… must be one of the quirks you where talking about then."

"Yep! It is!" Kiara replies.

"Hm? Quirks? Quirks about what?" Kaze asks.

"Meh Baku-ness," Kiara replies, grinning from ear to ear.

"…Your… Baku-ness?" Kaze says in disbelief. A disbelief that only grows when Kiara nods, her grin remaining on her face. Kaze sighs then places her forehead in her palm with a groan. "I knew I shouldn't have given you that soda…"

"Aww c'mon! It isn't that bad!" Kiara protests.

"You're making up words!" Kaze retorts.

"They're at it again…" Hifumi mumbles under his breath. As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Hifumi regrets saying them because two, very angry pairs of eyes turn to look at him sharply.

"What was that?!" Kiara and Kaze snap angrily.

"E-Err nothing…" Hifumi stutters fearfully.

"I suggest you watch yourself," Kiara growls under her breath.

"G-Got it…" Hifumi stutters, bowing his head in shame.

"Good boy," Kiara replies, patting Hifumi's head like he's a dog.


	6. Chapter 6

**Kiara and Kaze are ours only. Only three chapters left including this one! Whoo! Hope you like it so far! Oh! and cameo apperaiances of certain hanyous dressed in red clothes will appear in this chapter! you have been warned!**

That night passes fairly harmlessly, with Kiara not getting as hyper as Kaze thought then crashing in her room soon after. The next day, Kiara and Kaze come down and spend the day like any other; shopping and picking on Hifumi. However that night, Kaze goes to bed early leaving Kiara, Hifumi and Mizuki to wait for Hiruko who has yet to join them downstairs. As soon as Kaze goes upstairs, Kiara sits down in her usual seat beside Hiruko's favorite chair before she starts writing on a piece of paper. Mizuki and Hifumi watch Kiara with growing curiosity and after an hour or so, Hifumi finally can't take it any more and walks up to Kiara.

"What'cha writin?" Hifumi asks, leaning over Kiara's shoulder to look at the paper that she quickly hides with her body.

"A private letter!" Kiara replies, giving the blonde playboy a stern look.

"Oooh! Is it to a boyfriend!?" Hifumi presses. His tone becomes depressed and his eyes show his disappointment at the thought of Kiara having a boyfriend.

"Tch! No way!" Kiara replies with a snort, still using her body to cover the letter. "It's to some friends."

"The ones you told us about earlier?" Mizuki asks gently.

Kiara sighs and leans back in her chair before shaking her head. "No. This… This is to someone… er… yeah… someone else. If you could call him that."

"Him? So it is to a boy?" Hifumi asks, his depression deepening.

"Yes but he's not a boyfriend. They're the ones we were with before we came here," Kiara explains, her face becoming sad. "We kinda left with out explaining much so… I wanted to write him explaining what's going on with Kaze-sama."

"I see. That's a good idea, Kiara-san," Mizuki replies, sitting down across from Kiara and giving her a warm smile.

"Thanks, Mizuki-chan," Kiara says, returning the gentle smile. She folds up the letter then stuffs into an envelope before getting to her feet and walking towards the door. She stops at the doorway and turns to Mizuki and Hifumi, her eyes sad. "If Kaze-sama wakes before I get back just tell her I had to run a quick errand. Don't tell her about the letter, it'll only make her feel bad."

"Yes of course," Mizuki says with a nod. "What about Hiruko?"

"Meh. I don't care what you tell him," Kiara says with a shrug then leaves with a brisk, "I'm off!"

Kiara walks down the street, the letter now safely tucked to her chest under the left side of her kimono, debating what she is going to say once she meets with her friends. She figures that most of them will welcome her pretty warmly but the one that the letter is mainly for…she is not sure. In fact, Kiara is afraid of how he is going to react, seeing as he seemed fairly depressed when he heard about Kaze loosing her memory.

Kiara sighs and runs a hand through her hair in exasperation that quickly jumps back to panic when her destination comes into view. Kiara stands nervously outside the small forest for a few seconds before pressing onward, her heartbeat quickly gaining speed as she gets closer and closer to where she is heading. Finally, Kiara gets to her final destination: an old withered well. Kiara stares down the dark well, her face forming a frown as pleasant and unpleasant memories flood her mind's eye. She takes a deep breath and leaps in with the thought of getting it over with.

"Hm? Something's not right…" Kiara mutters under her breath.

She looks up and sees that the scenery surrounding the well hasn't changed even though it should have. She frowns then climbs up the side of the well only to jump back down. Once again, the scenery doesn't change, both concerning and irritating Kiara.

"What the hell?" Kiara grumbles then looks at her feet. She starts jumping up and down. And when that doesn't work, Kiara squats down and starts to dig. "Why isn't it working!?" Kiara shouts in irritation as she digs. She continues for a few more seconds but then stands up straight and puts her hands on her hips with a frustrated huff. "Inuyasha must've done something to the other side of the well…"

"…If I was Kaze-sama… what would I do?" Kiara whispers to her self, her finger grasping her chin in thought. After a few seconds of thinking, Kiara's face becomes a mischievous smirk as she starts to chuckle to herself. "Aaah yes… that might work…" she snickers under her breath.

Kiara looks down at the dirt before her and squeezes her right hand into a fist. A blue glow starts to cover Kiara's fist as she pulls her arm back. Just as Kiara's about to throw her fist into the ground underneath her, a thought comes to Kiara's mind _wait a minute… if I use my chakra then I could destroy the well…_. She sighs and lowers her right arm back to hang limply at her side, the blue glow quickly dissipating.

Suddenly, Kiara's eyes darken with anger and she digs her fist into the dirt wall of the well with a low snarl. She huffs in frustration and climbs out of the well, figuring that if she wasn't already in the Feudal Era of Japan then she wouldn't be able to go. Kiara starts making her way back to the Silver Tea Shop, grumbling under her breath and her anger at her friend quickly growing. In fact, by the time she makes it back, she is no longer angry. She is down right _furious_.

Kiara flings the front door to the small tea shop wide open, scaring the three that are awake at this late hour: Hiruko, Mizuki and Hifumi. The three turn and stare wide eyed at Kiara only for their eyes to widen even farther when Kiara's eyes become gold and wolf like, fangs appear in her mouth and her fingernails become sharp and long like claws.

"That fucking hanyou!" Kiara screams angrily, making Mizuki and Hifumi jump. "How _dare_ he seal the well!"

"U-Uh… is something wrong?" Hiruko asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"Damn it!" Kiara shouts, punching the wall, which leaves a nice hole where her fist was. Kiara growls then runs her hands through her hair as she plops down across from Hiruko. Hifumi, who was sitting kitty corner from Hiruko, quickly scoots away in order to give the seething Kiara plenty of room. "I just don't understand!"

"Understand what?" Mizuki asks, placing a gentle hand on Kiara's arm. Kiara stiffens at the touch then turns to Mizuki; her eyes still gold and wolf like.

Kiara snorts angrily, yanking her arm out from under Mizuki's touch then starts to shake her head. "That bastard loved Kaze-sama! I could see it! He was crushed when he heard that Kaze's memories where wiped so I figured he'd want to know what happened! But then he goes and seals the fucking well! So now, Kaze-sama and I can't go back and I can't give him the stupid letter!" Kiara growls low in her throat and clenches her right hand that is resting on the table in front of her. "He loved Kaze-sama… probably more than that bitch Kagome… yet here he goes, shutting the only way for him to get information! You would think that he'd want to know how she was doing! But noooooo he goes and seals the god damn well! Aaagh! I just wanna kill him! Wring that good for nothing's neck!"

"But Kiara-san," Mizuki whispers, quickly earning Kiara's attention. "Wouldn't that hurt Kaze-san?"

Kiara's eyebrows furrow in confusion as she looks at the younger girl. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm guessing that Kaze-san loved him as well, so if you hurt him then it would hurt her."

"Ah…" Kiara gasps, her eyes instantly sadden and she looks at the table, the odd changes to her body quickly disappearing along with her anger. "Yes… Kaze-sama… she loved him…That's probably why he sealed the well then…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Hifumi asks, finally getting what little courage he has back under his thumb.

"When I told Inuyasha that this happened once before and that she didn't remember _anything_ he… he got this expression…" Kiara pauses and shakes her head, her face showing her emotional pain at the memory. "It hurts me to remember it even now. He started to protest but then stopped himself. I could tell he was squelching all his emotions. Damn it!" Kiara curses, thumping her fist on the table as her eyes fill with tears. "I promised that I would tell them when she got her memories back!" Kiara squeezes her eyes shut, forcing the tears down her face, as she grimaces in pain and grasps the sides of her head with her hands. "How the hell am I supposed to do that when I can't even get through the well!?"

Mizuki and Hifumi look over Kiara's shoulders to trade concerned looks before looking back at her, unsure how they are going to consol her. After a few minutes, Hifumi warps an arm around Kiara's shoulders and pulls her into a hug. Hiruko sees a smile creep across Hifumi's face when Kiara turns into the comforting touch and with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Hiruko lifts his cane and whacks Hifumi on the head, causing him to promptly left go of her. Hifumi glares at Hiruko from across the table, his hands holding the top of his head in pain.

"Kiara," Hiruko says softly. Kiara looks up at him, her face and eyes still wet with tears. "You're smart so you'll figure out something and don't fret about it."

Kiara blinks at Hiruko in shock for a few seconds before she smiles gently at him. "Thanks, Ruko-kun."

Hiruko nods, his own smile forming on his face before going back to cleaning his cane and silence takes over the small group of friends. After a few moments, Kiara goes upstairs only to return a few minutes later with a black Mp3 in her hands and one black earbud shoved in her ear. Her eyes are trained on the Mp3's screen as she makes her way back to the table and sits down next to Hiruko before finally settling on a playlist and stuffing the Mp3 down her kimono's front, making a large stream of blood to splurt from Hifumi's nose. Kiara sees the stream of blood that's flowing from Hifumi's nose that he's now trying to calm with a hand over his mouth and lifts an eyebrow.

"You ok, Miso-chan?" Kiara asks.

"Y-Yeah just taking off guard is all…" Hifumi says, thanking Mizuki when she hands him a handkerchief.

"Baka," Hiruko says under his breath.

"Oh shut up! At least I get something out of life!" Hifumi retorts angrily.

"I do too, dreams," Hiruko replies calmly and with a smug smile that quickly causes Hifumi's blood to boil.

"Dreams are nothing compared to love!" Hifumi shouts.

"What love do you have?" Kiara asks.

Hifumi's face warps in shock then he bows his head in despair, quickly earning the laughter from Hiruko. "That's it… I'm done…" Hifumi whispers to himself.

"Done? With what?" Kaze asks as she walks downstairs, sleepily rubbing her eyes.

"Kaze-chaaaaaan! The Baku are being mean to meeeeee!" Hifumi whines, crawling towards Kaze's feet and latching onto her legs.

"…And I have something to do with that?" Kaze asks with a lifted eyebrow, once again shocking the young teen into a depression.

"No body loves me…." Hifumi whimpers pathetically from his crumpled position on the ground.

"… Sure, Sure… can you let go now?" Kaze sighs, her legs still captured in Hifumi's clingy arms. "I want to sit down."

"Yeah…" Hifumi whimpers, releasing Kaze's legs but stays put on the ground. Kaze sighs then walks over to the table and sits down across from Kiara.

"What'cha listening to?" Kaze asks, nodding towards the headphone sitting on the table.

"Take a listen," Kiara replies, smiling up at Kaze.

Kaze shrugs then sticks the headphone in her ear. A smile spreads across her face as she starts to dance in her chair. "Ah, J-pop. Good choice."

"Heehee thanks," Kiara snickers as Kaze places the headphone back on the table.

"Y'know Miso-chan, if you stay on the ground like that, you're gonna get stepped on," Kaze says, watching him lie on the ground with her chin in her palm.

"I don't care… people don't care 'bout me anyway…" Hifumi sighs.

"…Uh huh…" Kaze says in disbelief.

"He's throwing a fit…" Kiara says, her eyes trained on her Mp3 once again.

"I can see that," Kaze replies. "How do we get him to stop?" she continues then her eyes flash and she turns a sly smile to Kiara.

Kiara senses Kaze's gaze and looks up at her through her eyebrows. "What are you lookin at me for?" she asks.

"You or Mizuki could easily pacify him," Kaze says with a smirk.

"What?! Oh _hell_ no! I ain't doing that!" Kiara says indignantly.

"Don't go pervy on me, Kia," Kaze snickers. "I'm just saying that either you or Mizuki could easily cheer him up."

"…I'm still not doin it," Kiara mumbles, returning her gaze to her Mp3.

Kaze shrugs then looks over at Mizuki as she places a cup of tea in front of Kaze and Kiara. Mizuki spots the gaze and smiles but shakes her head.

"Sorry but I have other things I need to attend to," she says softly.

"Haha ouch!" Kiara laughs. "Poor Miso-chan!"

"See? What'd I tell ya…" Hifumi whimpers to the ground. "Kaze-chaaaaan! Make them love meeeee!"

"Um… sorry but that's not gonna happen," Kaze says while shaking her head.

"Why noooooot?"

"Because… it's not a good idea."

"But whyyyyy?"

"Cause you're annoying," Kaze says through clenched teeth.

"No I'm nooooot."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Noooo I'm noooooot."

"Yeeeees you arrrrrre!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kiara says halfheartedly.

"Do what?" Mizuki asks as Hiruko watches Hifumi and Kaze's fight start to escalate.

"Irritate Kaze-sama like that," Kiara replies, her eyes fixed on the game she's playing on her Mp3.

"Why? What happens?"

"You'll see."

"I'm not annoying!" Hifumi shouts in Kaze's face.

"Yes you are, Miso-chan!"

"I'm telling ya it's not a good idea to do this, Miso-chan," Kiara sighs but her warnings go unheard by the pair. "…3…2…1-"

"That's it!" Kaze snaps, squeezing her hand into a fist and punching Hifumi's jaw. The force of Kaze's punch sends Hifumi flying backwards and landing on the other side of the store with a thud then a groan. Mizuki and Hiruko's eyes just about bulge out of their sockets at the sight of Hifumi flying head over heels.

"I warned him," Kiara sighs.

"Hmph, idiot," Kaze grumbles, then dismisses herself upstairs for the second time that night. However, as she stands up, Kaze accidently knocks over her cup, sending it crashing to the floor. "Oh no! Ah, I'm sorry Mizuki-chan…" Kaze says as she squats down to pick up the pieces.

"It's fine Kaze-san," Mizuki says gently, also squatting down to help Kaze.

"Ouch! Dammit!" Kaze curses, flinching as a piece of the cup digs deeply into the palm of her hand.

"Ah! Kaze-sama!" Kiara gasps, handing over her handkerchief to her best friend who is starting to look rather green. "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah…" Kaze stutters, looking away from the gushing wound.

"Here, I'll get it for you," Kiara says gently, sitting on her feet in front of Kaze and gently wrapping the handkerchief around her friend's palm.

"Wow… You're good at that, Kiara-chan," Hifumi says, his chin dark purple from Kaze's punch.

"Thanks," Kiara says then looks up at Kaze her face worried. "Stay here I'll get some bandages."

Kiara leaves then returns only moments later with a small box in her hand. She sits on her feet in front of Kaze again then starts to doctor and treat Kaze's wound before finally bandaging it expertly.

"How'd you learn to do that so well?" Hifumi asks.

"…My job entails that I'm able to do this," Kiara replies softly, her face downcast.

"Job?" Mizuki asks.

"Yes, Kia's a cop," Kaze says admiring the bandages wrapped around her hand. "You're as amazing as ever, Kia. Thanks."

Kiara nods and gives Kaze a halfhearted smile. "You're welcome Kaze-sama, just try to be careful."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to bed," Kaze sighs, walking upstairs.

Once Kaze is gone, Kiara stares at the blood soaked handkerchief in her hand, her face covered in brooding thought. Could this be the answer she needed to the well problem? What if the well reacted to Kaze's blood, allowing both her handkerchief and the letter to pass through? It certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

With that thought Kiara grins to herself and gets to her feet. "I'm going back to the well."

"Huh? Why?" Hifumi asks.

"Because this might allow the letter to pass through," Kiara says, lifting the bloody handkerchief.

"…Wha? How?"

"Kaze-sama was the first one of us to pass through the well, so I'm thinking that her blood might let the letter go through, even if the well is blocked."

"Ah… I see," Mizuki says then smiles at Kiara. "I hope it works."

Kiara nods and returns her smile before kissing Hiruko's cheek lightly. Hiruko's eyes widen then his face bunches with confusion as Hifumi stares at him in shocked horror and jealousy and Kiara just grins at the confused Baku.

"What was that for?" He asks.

"That was a thank you," Kiara replies.

"For?"

"Believing that I could think of something when I gave up. I'll be back shortly," Kiara says then leaves the shop.

Kiara quickly makes her way to the well and stares down into it, debating whether she should jump into the well and place the handkerchief and the letter in the well or just drop them. After a few moments, Kiara comes to a decision and pulls out the bloody handkerchief and the letter. She wraps the handkerchief around the letter then leans over the well and drops them down. The letter and the handkerchief suddenly disappear as soon as they hit the bottom of the well. Kiara cheers happily and runs the whole way back to the shop, a wide grin on her face.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face, it worked," Hiruko says.

"Yep! It worked! Now that idiot hanyou will have a better idea of what's going on, and I can keep my promise to Mel-chan!" Kiara says happily.

"Mel-chan?" Hifumi asks.

"Another friend of ours. She decided to stay behind with Inuyasha and the others," Kiara explains. "She was raised in a different village than Kaze-sama and I."

"Oh, is she cute?"

"…You ain't gonna lay _one finger_ on her," Kiara warns darkly.

"Y-Yes ma'am…" Hifumi stutters fearfully.

"Besides Mel's caught in the well and with it being blocked, there's no way for her to get through unless of course, that turd Inuyasha decides to unblock it."

"Um… Kiara-san," Mizuki speaks up, her face confused.

"Hm?" Kiara says, turning to look at the younger woman.

"How do you know they're even going to get the letter? You said that the well was blocked right? So then how are they gonna know?" Mizuki asks.

"…Inuyasha has a good nose. He'll smell Kaze-sama's blood on the handkerchief and go to check it out and thus finding the letter," Kiara explains then stands up. "I'm off to bed, I'll see you guys later."

"But the night is just beginning!" Hifumi protests.

"…I've had a long day, I'm going to bed," Kiara sighs.

"But Kiara-chaaan-" Hifumi starts but then cuts himself off when Kiara glares at him. "Shutting up…"

"Good boy," Kiara replies with a fake smile.

Kiara turns around and starts to head up the stairs only to be interrupted by the shop's door slamming open. She, along with the others, turns around and sees a young man dressed in a baggy red shirt and baggy red pants standing in the doorway. He has long silver hair, golden eyes and what looks like dog-ears on the top of his head. In his hand are the bloody handkerchief and the letter Kiara put into the well not an hour earlier.

The young man glowers around the room before setting his sights on Kiara and stomping up to her. He roughly grabs a hold of the front of her kimono and shakes her as he lifts the hand that has the handkerchief and the letter in front of her face.

"What the hell was this!?" the young man bellows angrily.

"Why hello to you too," Kiara replies calmly, shoving the young man's hand off of her kimono. "You took less time to reply than I thought you would, Inuyasha."

"You didn't answer me!" Inuyasha shouts in irritation. "What the hell is with this bloody rag?!"

"Me keeping my promise," Kiara replies smoothly before her face hardens into a glare. "You wouldn't have gotten the 'bloody rag' if you hadn't _sealed_ the fucking well!"

"I had to do that! Now what's up with the rag?! The thing is practically _soaked_ in Kaze's blood! Is she ok!?"

"Kaze-sama's fiiiine! And again, you wouldn't have even gotten it if you hadn't sealed the well! I just wanted to make sure Mel and the rest of you got my update!"

"Update?! This is just you rambling about the people your staying with and how you haven't found anything about that woman!" Inuyasha shouts angrily.

"Hey! I'm doing my god damn best here! I have little to nothing to go on in searching for that woman! And at least I'm _doing_ something! It's been over a year and you're just now coming to talk. On top of it, it's only after I dumped 'a bloody rag' down the well that you actually try to do something!"

"It hurts too much ok!?" Inuyasha finally admits, shocking Kiara into silence and quickly diminishing her anger. His once angry face also softens but to a emotional pain she didn't know he could show. Inuyasha always had a hard time showing his emotions so if he could show his pain this easily then it was hurting him far more than Kiara could ever know. "If… If I unblocked the well, then I'd be tempted to go out and look for you only to be reminded how she doesn't remember me…"

Kiara's face softens and she gently pulls him into a kind hug. "I understand… that's why I'm trying to fix this as soon as possible… If you want, I won't send another letter."

"No," Inuyasha replies, gently shoving Kiara way. "You need to keep the others up to date… so… just keep sending the letters…"

"If you say so," Kiara sighs before giving him a small smirk. "Just as long as you don't keep barging into the café like this and scaring my landlord."

"Hn," Inuyasha snorts, turning around to see two stunned teens and an equally stunned Baku. "… They're your landlords?"

"Nope, only the girl. The other two are tenants as well," Kiara replies, glad to see he's returned to himself. …Somewhat. "Inuyasha, meet Mizuki, Hifumi and Hiruko."

"…What a second…" Inuyasha says, sniffing Hiruko, who balks slightly with a 'what are you doing' look, before sniffing Kiara and glaring at her. "You and the boy smell… similar… What did you do!?"

"…Ruko-kun and I are both Baku," Kiara sighs.

"…You weren't a Baku before…?"

"No. I wasn't. I was just a-" Kiara starts pausing before sighing, "human…"

"Oooooh no! You were definitely not a human-" Inuyasha starts but stops when Kiara elbows him in the side.

"I'm more human than you are, Hanyou-chan," Kiara growls.

"…No you're not!" Hifumi shouts. "Baku are no where near being human!"

"Yet am I a normal Baku, Miso-chan?" Kiara retorts, her arms crossed under her bust angrily.

"W-Well n-no…" Hifumi stutters.

"See? Now this fool beside me is half human and half youkai," Kiara explains ignoring Inuyasha's protest against being a fool.

"Ok… but wouldn't that make him more human than you?" Hifumi asks in uncertainty.

"The kid's gotta point," Inuyasha says, jutting his thumb at Hifumi.

"Fine! I meant I _act_ more like a human than him! Sheesh!" Kiara exclaims in exasperation.

"Haha!" Inuyasha chuckles.

Kiara glares at him and lifts her fist threateningly. "Do you really wanna tick me off? Or do you not remember how I had you pinned in a split second?"

Inuyasha pales slightly and warily backs off with his hands covering his ears.

"That's what I thought. Now, did you share that letter with the others?" Kiara asks sighing when she sees Inuyasha's face become sheepish. "You just stormed here didn't you?"

"The blood on the rag scared me!" Inuyasha blurts. "S-So no… I didn't share it with them…"

"I figured as much… Kaze-sama only cut her hand. It's not life threatening…" Kiara sighs. "I only used it to get the letter through the well and to get your attention."

"Well it worked," Inuyasha grumbles. "…Kiara…?"

"What?" Kiara sighs before seeing Inuyasha's sad look. Her own face softens gently when she sees the pain hidden in his eyes.

"Could I…" Inuyasha starts hesitantly. "Could I go see Kaze?"

Kiara's eyes widen in shock before softening in concern. "You sure you wanna do that? You where just saying how it would hurt you…"

"Yeah… I… I wanna make sure she's ok…"

"Alright… If your sure…" Kiara sighs. "She's asleep upstairs, first bedroom on your right…"

Inuyasha nods in acknowledgement then rushes upstairs. Kiara sighs again then sits back down beside Hiruko to wait for his return.

"Was it wise to let him see her?" Mizuki asks.

Kiara shrugs, her face downcast. "I dunno. But I figured I would let him since he asked…"

"But wouldn't he just be hurt?"

"Honestly, he's gonna be hurt either way…."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, whether or not he goes to see her it'll hurt him. It's just a matter of what will hurt him more…" Kiara explains sadly.

"Oh…makes sense I guess…" Mizuki replies, turning a sad look towards the stairs. "The poor thing… it must be hard to have someone you love not know who you are…"

"It is…" Kiara whispers softly. "It is hard to watch too."

The weight of Kiara's statement causes a solemn silence to cover the group. No one says a word, even when Inuyasha walks back down. He mumbles a practically silent 'Thank you' to Kiara then walks out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**The plot thickens/winds down! what will happen? read and find out! review please! I want Hiruko and so does Kaze soooo whomever owns him and the others kindly give him to us ^-^ we'll be good to him honest! Oh, and there's another cameo appearance in this chapter too! Read it! Love it! REVIEW it! ^.^  
**

The next night, Kiara and the others are already downstairs when Kaze joins them, a thoughtful look on her face.

"You ok, Kaze-san?" Mizuki asks as she places a cup of tea in front of her.

"Yeah… I just could have sworn I saw a cosplaying man squatting in the corner of my room but I close my eyes for a second and he was gone…" Kaze replies, earning a sad look from Kiara. "I guess I was just imagining things."

"Yeah it probably was," Kiara murmurs. "But I wonder where it came from."

Kaze shrugs as she takes a sip of her tea. "You're guess is as good as mine. I didn't dream about anything close to that."

"Maybe there was something in your room that looked similar?" Mizuki suggests.

"Maybe…" Kaze replies, shrugging again.

"Or, it might have been one of those instances where you think you see something only to realize your mind was playing a trick on you," Kiara suggests. "Perhaps you knew someone like that and your mind was trying to remember."

"I think… I think that may have been it," Kaze agrees.

"Really?" Kiara says in shock.

"Yeah… I mean… I kinda recognized him… and… and thinking about him makes my head hurt…." Kaze says, putting a hand to her head.

"…Ok… hmmm… then… What do you remember? Do you remember a name?" Kiara asks.

"N-Not really… Just… flashes."

"Flashes of what? Voices? Faces?"

"Faces, definitely faces. But… also more like different expressions?"

"How so?" Kiara presses, hoping and praying that whatever was wrong with Kaze is breaking.

"I-I don't know… My head hurts…" Kaze says, grimacing in pain.

"Think, try and think."

"I-I… I think it's serious… occasionally… happy and… My head hurts! Kia, why are you so interested?!" Kaze asks, pressing her hands to her head.

"Because it might mean something," Kiara replies. "Please… just try… Minor headaches are normal for this type of thing."

Kaze gives Kiara a disbelieving look but closes her eyes and pushes through the pain to focus on remembering. At first the pain did go away and more flashes of the person she thought she saw in her room the other night. Most of the flashes where of him being well… serious or angry she couldn't tell. She shushed Kiara and Hifumi who were constantly asking what she saw but the next second the pains came back, worse than ever. She grimaces but keeps trying, only to get even fewer snippets and more pain. Then suddenly, a white hot pain streaks through her mind causing her to gasp and snap her eyes open.

"Kaze? What's wrong?" Kiara asks, her expression worried as she sees Kaze start to wobble before collapsing onto the ground. "Kaze!" she shouts, lurching forward to catch her best friend before she hit the ground as the other three crowds around.

"What happened?" Mizuki asks while Kiara hastily checks Kaze vitals.

"I… I don't know but right before she passed out, she looked like she was in a lot of pain…" Kiara murmurs, her worried look slightly guilty as well. "I'm going to take her up stairs… I'll be right back…" she whispers, pulling Kaze onto her back and walking upstairs before returning moments later looking like she just killed a baby animal.

"What's wrong?" Hifumi asks.

"…I think it's my fault…" Kiara whispers.

"What? Why?"

"I'm the one that pressed her to remember even though she said she was hurting. I shouldn't have done that… and now… she's unconscious and probably forgotten something."

"Hey, there was no way you could have predicted this would have happened," Hifumi replies.

"I know but still… she's the person most important to me, I shouldn't have forced her into something that caused her pain."

"You thought her memories where coming back right?" Hifumi asks, waiting for Kiara's slow nod before continuing. "Then what you did was logical. You wanted to know how much, if anything, she remembered. You didn't know that she would have passed out and for all you know it was just because of the headache, not trying to regain her memories."

"What you don't understand though, is that whatever is causing Kaze to forget is what caused the headaches! If I try to force her to remember then she could forget everything! I'm not going to try to get her to remember again…" Kiara says firmly. "I'm going to focus on getting to the mysterious woman first."

"But would beating her really help Kaze-chan?" Mizuki asks.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get Kaze's memories back. I'll beat the answer out of that woman if need be," Kiara replies.

Hifumi and Mizuki trade looks while Hiruko just grins as he cleans his cane. Kaze wakes up a few hours later, only remembering having a horrible headache but not the cause nor if she remembered anything before passing out. Kiara's grateful that she didn't forget anything else but is still concerned what'll happen if she tries to get Kaze to remember again, so over the next few weeks, whenever Kaze has a dream about Inuyasha or Konoha, Kiara just tells Kaze that it's her imagination running rampant and tells her to have Hiruko look at it if it bothers her. Kaze could tell that Kiara was hiding something due to the pain she watched Kiara hide behind a thoughtful look or a kind smile but whenever she pushed and asked her about it, Kiara would avoid it in someway. In her frustration, she turned to Hifumi and Mizuki and when they wouldn't answer, to Hiruko who gave even less information and only asked to take a look at it so he'd get a meal out of it. Eventually, Kaze figures that they're not going to tell her why Kiara was being so secretive and decides to drop it in hopes that Kiara or the others will let whatever they are hiding, slip.

Right now, the group is sitting in the dinning area waiting for the guests for Hiruko to arrive. Hifumi and Mizuki are watching Kaze and Kiara play a mindless card game while Hiruko sits in his head and cleans his cane, occasionally looking up at the game when Kaze laughs or Kiara makes a noise.

"So… What's this game called again?" Hifumi asks, watching as Kiara switches one of the 9 cards splayed face down in front of her for one she drew from the pile only to groan and drop the one she just picked up in what she called the discard pile.

"Trash," Kaze snickers, grinning as Kiara pouts at her very loosing hand while Kaze's one card away from winning. Again. "You basically have ten cards lined up and in order to win a round you have to the be first to get 1-10. And every time you win a round, you have to find less cards so, to win the game all together, you have to be the first to run out of cards."

"So… seeing as you have one card and Kiara has nine… you're winning?" he asks, to which Kiara harrumphs and Kaze nods.

"That's exactly right, Miso-chan," Kaze replies, giving Kiara a gloating smirk.

"Ok, no more card games! I'm done getting my butt kicked!" Kiara huffs angrily, throwing her hands up in the air in her exasperation.

"Then what do you wanna do?" Kaze asks, now shuffling the cards for the next time they want to play.

"I wanna get out of this shop! Let's go for a walk or something. All _five_ of us," Kiara replies, turning to Hiruko as she enunciates the word 'five'.

"I'm just fine here thank you," He replies shaking his head as he continues to polish his cane.

"But you've been cooped up in here for weeks! You need to get out."

"I don't like being outside, it's too bright."

"…It's after one in the morning, Ruko, the sun isn't shining!"

"The moon still makes it bright," the Baku stubbornly retorts, not even flinching when Kiara gives him a look.

"It'll be fiiiiiiine! She whines. "C'moooooooooon!" Hiruko shakes his head, his eyes trained on his cane so, Kiara stares him down for a few seconds before threatening, "If you don't come, I'll take your cane and hide it somewhere you won't be able to find."

"You wouldn't dare…" he replies, his look darkening.

"Try me."

This time it's Hiruko's turn to stare down Kiara who returns his look easily. After a few seconds he frowns then gets to his feet with a reluctant sigh.

"Let's get this over with…"

"Yes!" Kiara cheers, pulling him outside while the other three follow in awe.

"How'd she threaten him and survive!?" Hifumi whispers to Mizuki who shrugs.

"You forget that Kia's a Baku as well," Kaze replies, calmly walking the streets behind Kiara who is busy dragging Hiruko by the firm grasp she has on his wrist in assurance he won't be able to escape. "It would be pointless to try and kill her. Not only that but her threat on him wouldn't work on herself. She doesn't feed only on dreams so she really doesn't need her cane as much as Ruko."

"Right… that makes since I guess…" Hifumi mutters.

Kaze nods then pulls on the collar of Kiara's kimono, earning a squawk from her as she's pulled to a stop. "Let him go, Kia, I doubt he's going to run off now."

Kiara pouts but does as Kaze asked, releasing Hiruko's wrist before starting to walk again, now casually chatting with Kaze and Mizuki. Hifumi grins mischievously before shrinking away and heading down an alleyway. Seconds later, he leaps behind Kaze and Kiara while shouting surprise, earning screams from the two girls before they bolt, leaving a shocked trio behind. When the others are finally able to catch up, Mizuki asks why the ran off so quickly. Kaze pauses before shrugging while Kiara explains that one of their friends used to do that and it has a very… unpleasant meaning. They trade confused looks but drop the subject and not much long into the walk Kiara stiffens then looks up at a nearby rooftop, letting off a small snicker before she starts walking again. Hifumi and the others trade confused looks and also turn to the rooftop Kiara looked at only to see nothing.

"What's so funny?" Kaze asks with a frown.

"Nothing," Kiara snickers.

Kaze gives her a suspicious look but then she's thrown face first into the ground by someone tackling her backside. She gives off a surprised squawk as she's pinned to the cement by a strangely familiar weight on her butt. Hiruko jerks in surprise at the sound and sudden face plant of Kaze while Hifumi and Kiara burst into hysterical laughter. Mizuki, however, stares at the oddly dressed silver haired man happily sitting on Kaze's rear.

"KIA GIVE ME MY GUN!" Kaze screams, struggling under the main's weight.

"Pervert attack!" the man cheers as she bounces on her butt.

"No way!" Kiara laughs, still laughing hysterically and to hard to hold her gun let alone shoot it. "You can't shoot him Kaze."

"GET OFF ME YOU CRAZY STALKER PERVERT!" Kaze screams, flailing underneath him in vain.

"But you're so cute!" He says warmly while running his hands through her long hair.

"STAY AWAY!" she continues, finally throwing him off and bolting down the street.

"You really shouldn't tease her so much, Kakashi-sense," Kiara snickers, slowly over coming her laughter.

"But she's too cute!" Kakashi laughs. "And it's a great test of my ninja skills!"

"You may scar her one of these days, y'know…" Kiara smirks.

"Eh, she'll get over it," he shrugs before leaping away with a wave that Kiara gladly returns.

Hiruko and the others watch the man leap away on the rooftops with a lifted eyebrow before turning to Kiara.

"Who was that?" Hiruko asks.

"The reason why Kaze and I ran off at Hifumi's 'surprise' earlier and someone you shouldn't worry about," Kiara replies.

"No wonder you ran off when I surprised you…" Hifumi murmurs.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei has a knack for startling people," Kiara replies, her look now reminiscent.

"Crazy stalker pervert teacher," Kaze grumbles as she stalks back to the group from her hiding place. "By the way, Kia, why do I recognize him?"

"Don't worry about it," Kiara replies, smiling sadly at her then turns back towards the shop. "Well that's enough excitement for one night. Let's head back."

"Did you know that would happen!?" Kaze demands.

"Nooooope," Kiara replies.

"Right…"

Kiara grins but walks into the shop and goes straight upstairs, leaving her confused companions in her wake.


	8. Chapter 8

**FINAL CHAPTERRRRR! **

Another month goes by without incident though Kaze was always checking to see if someone was about to jump her. She finally convinced Kiara to come with her as they did some shopping for Mizuki even though Kiara was adamant that no one would jump her. Once they finished gathering the groceries, the pair start to head home, Kaze wanting to get home to sleep while Kiara started to get a bad feeling in the middle of their trip and wanted to get back before anything happened.

"Why am I so tired?" Kaze sighs, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand.

Kiara glances over and notes that Kaze's normally green eyes have gotten darker, filling her with dread that she hides with a forced sad smile on her face before she looks ahead again. "Perhaps you should eat something before you go to sleep. Maybe it'll help," she suggests.

"Really?" Kaze asks in disbelief, confused as to why eating will help.

"It's helped before, remember?"

"…Alright."

"Good. Then let's go see if I can find some meat…" Kiara says, turning around and heading back to the market. Kaze watches her in confusion for a moment then follows after her best friend.

"Why meat!?"

"The iron in it will help. Trust me!"

Kaze sighs but allows Kiara to buy some good beef then follows her home, gradually feeling worse as the minutes wear on. So, by the time they got home, Kaze was basically dragging her feet and flops into a chair, leaving Mizuki to put away the groceries while Kiara starts cooking the meat she bought. Hifumi watches on, slowly getting angry as he watches Mizuki put the things that they bought away.

"Why aren't you helping her?" he finally explodes.

"Kaze doesn't feel good so I'm cooking something that'll help!" Kiara replies. "Why don't you help her?"

Hifumi frowns but walks up to Kaze and reaches for the bags at her feet, intending on helping Mizuki. However, just as he is about to pick up the bag, he suddenly finds himself pinned to a chair with Kaze in his lap looking at him with very hungry black eyes. His face warps in shock at the lust in her eyes but blushes at the feeling of having her sit in his lap but his shock turns to horror as Kaze slowly starts to lean towards his neck, totally ignoring the flabbergasted looks she's receiving from Hiruko and Mizuki.

"K-Kaze-san! Wh-wh-what are you doing!?" Hifumi shouts, leaning away as Kaze continues to head towards his neck, her mouth opening to show fang like canines in her mouth. "St-st-st-STOP!"

Kiara freezes when she hears Hifumi scream then bolts to where she left them to see her best friend leaning toward his neck while Hiruko and Mizuki watch on in frozen horror.

"Kaze no!" Kiara shouts, launching herself at her and successfully tackling Kaze out of Hifumi's lap and pinning her to the floor.

Kaze glares up at Kiara with hungry black eyes and starts to struggle underneath her but Kiara's firm hold on her wrists and her weight on her abdomen keep her on the ground.

"You can't, Kaze!" Kiara says urgently, her expression pained but pleading. "Just hold on a few seconds and I'll have something for you!"

"I'm hungry, Kia."

"I know! I know! But you can't attack them!"

"Why not!?" Kaze asks. "You had me attack Shino remember?!"

Kiara blinks in shock, her face becoming pained but a slight hope fills her eyes. "You remember that?" she whispers.

"How could I _not_?!"

"B-But y-you…" Kiara whispers, her grip loosening on Kaze's wrists.

"What's gotten into you!?" Kaze growls.

"How… How can you remember?"

"You nearly _killed_ Shino!" Kaze replies angrily only to wince in pain. "Great, now my head… hurts…" she whispers before going limp.

"What just happened!?" Hifumi shouts, leaping to his feet and jabbing a finger at Kaze unconscious form. "She _attacked_ me!"

"…I'm sorry, Miso-chan but I can't explain right now," Kiara replies softly while she puts Kaze on her back and takes her upstairs.

She comes back downstairs moments later only to grab the meat on the stove and takes it upstairs. The others don't see the pair of girls for two more days and when they do return, they look like they had been hit by a truck. Kaze merely grabs some food and goes back upstairs while Kiara flops next to Hiruko at his table and stares down at its clothed surface.

"…I'm sorry…" she whispers after a few seconds of silence. "She never has progressed that fast before… I thought I still had time to make some food and still be ok. I miscalculated and risked your three's safety. I really am sorry…"

"W-Well… I-I wasn't hurt s-so…" Hifumi stutters, unnerved by the wobbly sound in Kiara's voice. "But what happened?"

"…Kaze's…. Not all she seems."

"Obviously."

"Hifumi!" Mizuki hisses, swatting the back of his head angrily. Hifumi yelps in pain and glares slightly at her before mumbling an apology.

"She has some quirks like my self and that is what you saw surface the other day…"

"So, she's not human either?" Mizuki asks.

"No. She's human. She's just has some quirks."

"Will she do that again?" Hiruko asks.

"Not for a while. I've put it off for a bit," Kiara replies.

"She's ok then?" Mizuki asks.

"Kinda. She'll be sluggish for a while yet."

"But no attacking?"

"No attacking unless Miso-chan makes her mad.

"Hey!"

"What? You do tick her off quite a bit."

Hifumi's resulting pout is ignored as a customer walks into the café, causing the conversation to be dropped. Two weeks pass with the conversation still let alone and Kaze is finally feeling good enough to be out and about so she pulls Kiara out to do some shopping in order to get out of the café. After a while, the girls start to head home with their purchases in hand.

However, most of the way home, a woman dressed in a long black rob suddenly appears before the pair. Her eyes are red and long silver hair flows behind her as she hovers above the ground and glares at Kaze who stands frozen. Kiara quickly steps in front of Kaze and glares at the woman with now golden eyes.

"How _dare_ you be happy!" the woman shouts, pointing an accusing finger at Kaze and earning a snarl from Kiara. "I've taken your memories _twice_ and you still find some way to be happy!"

"So you're the one that did this to her!" Kiara shouts angrily.

"Shut up you mangy mutt," the woman growls, waving her hand to the side.

Kiara suddenly feels herself being thrown at a nearby brick wall, colliding with it hard enough to cause some of the bricks to break and fall to the ground with her. She lies paralyzed in pain, figuring her back was bruised fairly badly or that she possibly even had broken ribs. Kaze cries out to her in shock only to be cut off as the woman turns to her.

"You're going to loose your self again, brat," the woman sneers, lifting her hand again.

Kaze cries out as her head is filled with a white hot pain, causing Kiara's head to snap up in time to see her fall to the ground unconscious.

"No! Kaze!" Kiara shouts in terror before turning angrily towards the woman with a low and angry snarl. "I'll make you pay for this, _BITCH_! You can count on that!" she threatens to the woman as she disappears. Once the woman is gone, Kiara drops her head to the ground and slams fist down angrily.

She failed. She failed to protect Kaze from loosing her memory again. What use is she if she can't even protect her best friend. Sure, now she knows what the woman looks like and that she's using magic to keep Kaze's memories away but that doesn't help her feelings of guilt and helplessness.

Kiara lies on the ground in silence as she calms herself and pushes down her feelings of self hatred. Once she's calm enough she gets to her feet and pulls Kaze onto her back before heading back to the apartment. As soon as she walks inside, Hiruko, Mizuki and Hifumi all watch in shock as Kiara carries the unconscious Kaze upstairs into their room and lies her down on her bed, ignoring the other three as they follow her inside.

"What happened?" Hifumi asks as Kiara packs her bags.

"I have to find that witch," Kiara says, ignoring Hifumi's question.

"But what happened?" Mizuki asks, putting a cold cloth on Kaze's forehead as she sleeps.

"She has this spell on Kaze that keeps her from making any memories," Kiara snaps, throwing the last of her things in a bag and putting Kaze's together.

"Here," Hiruko says, holding out a couple books. Kiara takes them, looking confused. "There's a wall a few blocks from here that leads to a different place. People have gotten lost in it and their friends come to me with nightmares about it. That may be where the witch went."

"Different how?" Kiara asks, flipping a book open. "Magic?"

"You need to hide who you really are and being witches will be a good cover," Hiruko explains, avoiding Kiara's question. "I think you two could manage it, especially with practice. However, the wall may soon stop transporting people how it does. It's been pretty unstable."

"So we might be stuck there?" Kiara asks, turning her eyes to her unconscious friend.

"Spell books are everywhere there," Hiruko insists. "Many of my customers, the ones who come back, normally have dozens of them and leave some with me. There's bound to be a spell to help you find your way home somewhere. Not only that, but there could be one to get her memories back."

"Thank you," Kiara says, putting the books in a bag. "I'll have to wake Kaze so she can help me carry these. I'm sorry for all the trouble we caused you."

"It was no trouble at all," Hiruko says and Mizuki smiles in agreement. "We'll be waiting for a visit."

Kiara smiles hopefully back before they leave the room. She shakes her friend gently. "Kaze, wake up," she says, watching Kaze's eyes open. "We have to go back home."

"Home?" Kaze asks, confusion in her eyes.

"Yup, we were just visiting some friends and we have to go back now," Kiara lies, forcing Kaze's blank mind to accept it instead of making something up itself. "Come on, we'll come back soon. Ruko left your spell books alone, so make sure they get packed." She points to a desk where Hiruko had placed more books in a stack.

"Spell… Books?" Kaze asks, slowly standing up.

"Don't tell me you forgot when you hit your head!" Kiara laughs, patting Kaze's head gingerly, as if she actually hit it. "We're witches, Kaze. Beginning witches, of course, but witches none-the-less. While we were visiting Hiruko we brought some spell books to practice so we wouldn't get rusty!"

"Right… Right, of course," Kaze says, her mind finally seizing the story. "And we have to go back now." She dazedly put the books in a bag and shouldered a couple as Kiara picks up the other two. "Um, let's go?" She still sounds slightly unsure, but more willing to believe her friend.

"Yup, let's go!" Kiara says, smiling hugely at her friend. They leave the room, waving goodbye to Hiruko at his seat, and leave the tea shop. A few minutes later they come upon the part of the wall Hiruko had described and Kiara runs her hand along it, praying it didn't already close off. About halfway along the wall, her hand dips in, sinking into the brick. "Here we go!" She says, pulling Kaze in after her.

**There ya go! Hoped you liked it! look forward to our next work! Review!**


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